Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

One-in-four SME loans to Irish businesses in default at end of 2013

 

NEW LENDING TO IRISH SMALL BUSINESS SECTOR IS STATIC, ACCORDING TO CENTRAL BANK REPORT

One in every four loans to Irish small and medium-sized businesses was in default at the end of last year, according to official figures due to be published today.

The amount of money owed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the Republic’s banks has fallen steadily over the last year three years, while new lending to the sector remains static, the Central Bank’s SME Market Report shows.

The study finds that these businesses, responsible for most of the employment in the Republic, owed a total of €21 billion at the end of December 2013, down from between €26 billion and €28 billion in January 2011.

At the end of 2013, the average SME owed its bank €71,101 and was paying interest at 6.41 per cent. The numbers show that just over 26 per cent of all loans to the sector were in default, meaning that repayments on these debts were 90 days or more overdue.

The report states that 41.4 per cent of the total balance owed by the sector was overdue at that time. Default rates were highest amongst building companies, which had fallen behind on more than 60 per cent of the amount that they owed their banks.

The Central Bank states that in most sectors, the balance-weighted default was higher than the share of loans in default, which indicated that borrowers with larger individual debts were most at risk of falling behind with repayments.

Demand is stable: From the beginning of 2010 to the final three months of last year, new lending to SMEs remained between €450 million and €750 million. The Central Bank says that there had been “little discernible upward trend” over that timeframe.

Demand for credit was stable between 2011 and 2014, with 35 per cent to 40 per cent of SMEs seeking loans from their banks. Applications hit a peak of 40 per cent in March 2013 but had slipped back to 35 per cent in March of this year.

Only one-in-four applicants were seeking cash to fund growth and expansion, while 61 per cent cited working capital requirements as the reason for their credit application.

The most commonly requested type of loan was renewal or restructuring of an existing overdraft.

“Irish SMEs’ emphasis on bank overdrafts as opposed to bank loans suggests that credit demand is skewed towards shorter-term,” the report says.

Rejected applications: Between October and March, the rate at which the banks rejected these applications was less than 10 per cent lower than in Italy, France or Spain, according to the report.

However, it states that the percentage of those companies which did not apply for credit as they believed they would be rejected is significantly higher here and in Greece than in other euro zone countries.

The report points out that last month, the Government announced the creation of the Strategic BankingCorporation of Ireland, which has funds of €500 million, and which loan money to a SMEs through resident lending institutions.

May sees another big uplift in beef production in Ireland

  

IRISH BEEF PRODUCTION IN MAY WAS ONCE AGAIN SIGNIFICANTLY AHEAD OF YEAR EARLIER LEVELS, ACCORDING TO EBLEX.

It highlights Central Statistics Office figures which show that at 49,100 tonnes, production was up 18%, or 7,400 tonnes, on May 2013. EBLEX says the increased slaughtering’s follow the general trend of the year so far and in the year to date the Irish report that cattle throughputs are up 13% or 85,500 head on last year’s position.

With better conditions resulting in higher slaughter weights at 242,000 tonnes, beef and veal production in the five-month period is up more than 15% year on year.

EBLEX highlights that with the Irish beef industry very reliant on exports and the UK by far the largest destination for Irish beef, the increased imports recorded so far this year look set to continue. However, current indications are that supplies will tighten towards the end of the year will remain tight in 2015 and into 2016.

EBLEX also comments that with Irish supplies still well ahead of year earlier levels, the fact that Irish prices have remained largely stable of late is something of a positive in the current market.

However, it does note that prices do look to be edging back in more recent weeks. With increased Irish supplies, the price differential is making it difficult for UK product to compete. With falling prices in the UK, the price differential has narrowed considerably.

Nonetheless, EBLEX states that the price differential it is still higher than it was for much of the first half of 2013 and is still relatively high in the historical context. As such, it says it remains likely that the pressure on the UK market is set to continue until supplies tighten or demand improves markedly.

There are 14 times more Irish people looking to adopt children than there are children available to adopt

 

However the Children’s Rights Alliance has warned that Ireland must not adopt from countries not inside The Hague recommendations.

Irish politicians heard today that there are 14 times more Irish people looking to adopt than there are children available.

The discussion at today’s Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children centred on the number of couples looking to adopt, which far exceeds the number of children.

Witnesses at the committee were giving evidence about Ireland’s relationship with other countries in terms of adoption. Current legislation only allows for adoptions between certain nations, restricting the number of children that can be adopted into the country.

The Children’s Rights Alliance argued that Ireland must continue to work within The Hague convention countries as adoptions outside of these countries can be perceived as ‘corrupt’.

Maria Corbett from the Alliance said The Hague sets out the minimum requirements for countries that children are being adopted from.

If we go outside these countries, we cannot trust their procedures.

“They can be involved in child trafficking and even deception of parents for profit.”

She said, “I understand the pain of parents and I don’t want to stigmatise children currently living in Ireland who have been adopted from Vietnam or Russia but we are not able to trust policies in non-Hague countries.”

“We have to resist the emotional request from families to move outside of Hague.”

Trish Connolly from the International Adoption Association told the committee, “I have a nine-year-old at home. She can hear the radio, she can watch Prime Time.

On the way into school she asked me, ‘Mummy was I stolen? Mummy how much did you pay for me?’.

The Irish experiences: The TD Clare Daly said there’s no doubt that many of the children who left Irish institutions and were adopted by Americans went into loving homes but that is not the issue.

“The issue is what happens down the line as every child will want to find out about their birth parents.”

Susan Lohan from Adoption Rights Alliance highlighted that we have no idea how these countries will deal with people who come back looking for records.

“If you respect children’s rights we cannot entertain working with countries outside The Hague.

We know all too well that adoption can be corrupted.

Too restrictive: Coming from a different perspective, Ruth Lennon from the International Adoption Association said that the Adoption Act is too restrictive.

“Just over 18 million children worldwide have lost both their parents.

There are still 100,000 children languishing in institutions worldwide.

She added, “We’re concerned intercountry adoption has no direction.”

During his testimony, Kiernan Gildea from the Adoption Authority of Ireland said that there are at least 14 times more couples wanting to adopt children than there are children available in Ireland.

He said that most prospective parents want to adopt young and healthy infants.

However he added that older children and children with disabilities remain in orphanages.

“There is no doubt that there are children available in Ethiopia but they don’t have the infrastructure in place, they have said no to a bilateral agreement.

What can we do in that situation, we can’t force them.

He also added that the number of children available for adoption is decreasing worldwide.

Big concerns at slow progress of Irish‘digital media strategy policy’ among Irish SMEs

 

PUTTNAM NOTES STEPS FORWARD AROUND EDUCATION AND THE ELDERLY BUT SAYS ‘URGENCY’ NEEDED

Ireland’s “digital champion” Lord David Puttnam is disappointed with the progress of the National Digital Strategy for small and medium businesses but says the scheme is making good progress in other areas.

  The State’s “digital champion” Lord David Puttnam is disappointed with the progress of the National Digital Strategy among small and medium businesses but says the scheme is making good progress in other areas.

Lord Putnam said the digital strategy has made “pleasantly surprising” progress in education and in helping elderly people to use the internet but “SMEs haven’t done as well as I’d hoped”.

One of the core aspects of the digital strategy, which was launched one year ago, was to provide grants of up to €2,500 to encourage SMEs to build an online presence. Research conducted as part of the strategy found that tens of thousands of Irish small firms do not trade online and were losing valuable opportunities to access larger markets, increase revenue and acquire better market intelligence.

Speaking at the National Digital Strategy update conference in Dublin today (thu), Lord Puttnam said more than 1,000 of these “trade online” grants had been given out so far.

Lord Puttnam, a multi-award winning former film producer, said he was “broadly encouraged” by Ireland’s progress but added “I think we’re being a little slow. I think we could do with more of a sense of urgency.”

But he said this was a common problem in virtually all European governments, with the possible exception of Estonia. “I think the world is changing and individuals are changing much quicker than Government is responding.”

He added: “Many people I talked to, certainly in the UK, kind of wish this wasn’t happening; it’s very inconvenient. The problem is, it is happening.”

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte told the conference that some 47,000 small companies in Ireland either don’t have a web presence or do business online.

Addressing the audience via Skype from a school on Arranmore Island, Co Donegal, he announced a further €400,000 in funding for a digital training programme. Digital technology, he said, is “the way of the future”.

New Internet web tool to help manage depression

  

A NEW INTERNET-BASED PROGRAMME THAT AIMS TO HELP PEOPLE MANAGE DEPRESSION HAS BEEN LAUNCHED.

According to the Department of Health, the iFightDepressionprogramme is a ‘guided self-management tool’ for people with mild to moderate depression. It has been developed by the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD).

The tool is multilingual and will initially be available in English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Estonian.

“The tool is intended to help individuals with mild to moderate depression to self-manage their symptoms and promote recovery through informative modules, associated worksheets and mood questionnaires to encourage practicing of new skills and self-monitoring.

“The ‘guided’ element to the iFightDepression tool ensures that individuals maintain contact with their GP or healthcare professional throughout their use of the tool. The tool is free to use and is based on principles of cognitive-behavioural therapy,” the EAAD noted.

Speaking at the launch of the tool, Junior Health Minister, Kathleen Lynch, described it as ‘an invaluable resource’ for those with mild to moderate depression.

“The tool offers immediate access to a lower-intensity psychological intervention. It is free to use and comes in two versions – one for adolescents and young adults aged 17-24 years, and one for adults. The tool is implemented through healthcare professionals, who will maintain a recommended level of contact with the patient,” she commented.

Deputy Lynch added that because it is internet-based, it will ‘empower patients by virtue of its accessibility, regardless of time of day, geographical location and financial status’.

Dragon-fish find highlights threat posed by release of exotic species

  

The discovery of the remains of an exotic dragon-fish on the River Suck (above left) has raised concerns over the damage being done to Irish waterways by the release of non-native organisms into the wild.

The dragon-fish may have been brought into the country as pike fishing bait and although it is unlikely that it was brought here alive, Dr Joe Caffrey of Inland Fisheries Ireland said it could still damage our native biodiversity.

“There is a possibility that discarded fish could still have parasites, viruses or bacteria that would be alien to Ireland and if the fish are eaten, they could indeed pass that on to our native species,” he said.

The discovery follows the rescue of a yellow-bellied slider turtle in Co Limerick last week and Dr Caffrey said Ireland has suffered from the introduction of a number of non-native species.

Pointing to a 2005 incident when the introduction of curly leaved waterweed into Lough Corrib caused havoc for native plant and insect species, Dr Caffrey said people need to be aware of the potential damage exotic animals or plants can inflict upon our unique wildlife.

“Very few people would do this on purpose. It really is down to a lack of knowledge and really the message we in fisheries are trying to get across is that non-native species should never be discarded into natural watercourses,” he said. 

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Thursday

Ireland now on top of the world as It is ranked as a ‘most good’ country

  

IRELAND is now ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Known round the globe as the land of a thousand welcomes, our international reputation continues to thrive as Ireland has officially been ranked the “goodest” country in the world.

The results of the “Good Country Index” has found that Ireland tops the list of 125 countries – aimed towards determining which country on earth contributes to the planet and human race the most.

Ireland was determined to have contributed the most to the planet, and was almost identical to Finland who came second, while our British neighbours trailed behind in seventh.

Nine of the top 10 spots were comprised of Western European countries, while Kenya was the highest ranking African nation at 26th. The world’s largest country, the Russian Federation, ranked 95th and Libya was last.

The survey is the first of its kind and is based upon analysis and research from 35 separate indicators from the United Nations, the World Bank, the Basel Convention, the Global Footprint Network, as well as several other international NGOs and institutions.

INDICATORS

The indicators include the number of Nobel prize winners, exports of creative goods and services, as well as drug seizures and humanitarian aid contributions.

These 35 indicators were then grouped into seven different contributory categories, including science, technology, culture, peace, world order and health. Care was taken to ensure countries with weaker economies weren’t “unduly penalised” when compiling the list, and their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was also taken into account.

International independent policy advisor Simon Anholt, founder of the “Good Country Index”, said that he believes countries need to stop “behaving as if they were islands, disconnected from the rest of the world”.

“We live in an age where the impacts of everything we do are always felt around the world, and we need to start taking responsibility for those impacts,” he continued.

“The Good Country Index is a tool that can help start this process”.

He added: “We need a world made of good countries, not a world of successful countries.

Irish Government agrees to a partial merger of Bord na Móna and Coillte

 

FOCUS OF MERGER WILL BE ON AREAS OF OVERLAP, SAYS SIMON COVENEY

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney: “A joint venture between the two companies will manage their common business activities in biomass, wind energy, shared services, and recreation and tourism.”

The Government has agreed to a partial merger between two large semi-State companies, Bord na Móna and Coillte. The Cabinet made the decision yesterday following a year-long analysis of the implications of a beneficial merger.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney, who is leading a four-day trade-and-investment mission to the US, said the focus of the partial merger would be on areas of overlap.

“A joint venture between the two companies will manage their common business activities in biomass, wind energy, shared services, and recreation and tourism. This decision will maximise the levels of benefit to the State and the two companies in the medium term,” said Mr Coveney.

IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS

He added the decision was the culmination of an indepth analysis by the New Economy and Recovery Authority, and the relevant Government departments and it also included input from both companies.

Mr Coveney said he had considered the issue with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin and Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte and they had agreed a partial merger was best.

In relation to Coillte, which forms part of his responsibility for forestry, the Minister said it was over 25 years in operation and the analysis of the sale of harvesting rights and a merger had been timely.

“The decision allows Coillte to focus on its core activities in forestry and operating its board mills while allowing the company to harness those areas of synergy it has with Bord na Móna. Ultimately this decision will allow the State to derive as much value as possible from both companies.”

Coillte said it fully supported the decision and was committed to implementing the joint venture which would focus on wind energy, biomass supply, shared services and green tourism.

Irish Mental health services are in danger of ‘moving backwards’

 

STATE WATCHDOG WARNS STAFF SHORTAGES could MEAN that PROGRESS IN SOME AREAS of Mental Health HAS GROUND TO A HALT.

Mental health services are in danger of “stagnating and moving backwards”, the State’s watchdog for psychiatric care has warned.

A combination of staff shortages and slow changes to work practices means progress in some areas has ground to a halt, the Mental Health Commission said.

“While some service providers are making progress toward providing a truly modern mental health care service, there are many others that are struggling,” said John Saunders, chairman of the commission.

 “We are moving to a dangerous area of stagnation in terms of progress in the development of mental health services in Ireland.”

Mr Saunders was speaking at the launch of the commission’s annual report which shows key areas of service provision fall below what the watchdog body deems as acceptable.

Some 44 per cent of services complied with staffing requirements last year, while 60 per cent met regulations in relation to individual care plans for patients.

Patricia Gilheaney, the chief executive of the commission, said the level of adherence to these statutory regulations was not acceptable.

“Seven years on, we should be at the stage where we’re moving on and aiming for higher standards.”

In all, there are a total of 9,000 staff working across mental health services in the State , although official policy states there should be 12,000.

Mr Saunders said service providers were under massive pressure to do more with less and that staffing issues were in danger of impacting on basic services.

He said the staffing of community mental teams, in particular, was a priority but significant gaps remained.

A Vision for Change, the blueprint for the development of mental health services, was adopted as official policy in 2006 and envisaged the development of a recovery-oriented services.

While it found there was “considerable commitment” to the policy, it was being implemented unevenly and inconsistently across the State.

Other areas of concern include the over-use of seclusion and physical restraint, as well as the admission of children into adult psychiatric units.

Last year a total of 91 children were placed in adult psychiatric units, despite warnings from the commission that practice should only occur in extreme cases.

Ms Gilheaney also called for the commission to be given powers to inspect community-based services, such as nurse-supervised residences and other settings.

While the commission may inspect these services from time to time, it has no statutory role and care regulations do not apply to these settings.

A report from the Inspectorate for Mental Health Services expressed concern in recent days that many of these nurse-supervised community residences are institutional in nature and have limited access to therapy and support.

"Minister Fitzgerald" says some €12.8m paid to 357 Irish Magdalene women

  

MINISTER FOR JUSTICE SAYS LEGISLATION WILL PROVIDE EXTRA SUPPORTS FOR THE WOMEN. 

Ruth Coppinger TD:  (above right picture) “This is an important landmark for women. Gender-based violence is at epidemic levels and one in four women in Ireland has experienced domestic violence.”

Some 357 former Magdalene laundry residents have been paid a total of €12.8 million in lump sum payments, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has told the Dáil. “A further 106 formal offers have been made and letters of provisional assessment on the length of stay in a relevant institution have been issued to an additional 35 applicants,’’ she added.

She said the ex-gratia scheme covered the 10 Magdalene laundries, which were the subject of the McAleese report, as well as St Mary’s training centre, Stanhope Street, and the House of Mercy training school, Summerhill, Wexford. A substantial body of work and engagement had already taken place with those eligible for the scheme, she added. Seventy-one of the 754 applications had been refused because the applicants were not in the 12 specified institutions.

Ms Fitzgerald said the Government, in her proposal, had agreed to the publication of the scheme of a new Bill providing for services and supports for women who worked in the laundries. Its purpose was to make additional provision for access to health services and the exempting of payments made to by the State to the women on the basis of means-tested criteria. “It also provides for legal provision for relatives, or other appropriate persons, to act on behalf of any of the women who do not have the capacity to act on their own behalf.”

The Minister was replying to Independent TD Maureen O’Sullivan who asked why An Grianán was not included on the list of institutions covered by the restorative justice scheme. Ms Fitzgerald said the scheme was primarily for women who were in the laundries. “Obviously, we are in a different situation now with a new inquiry to be initiated following the Tuam situation,” she added.

Meanwhile, Ms Fitzgerald told Socialist Party TD Ruth Coppinger she was anxious to see Ireland ratifying the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence as quickly as possible. It would require changes to domestic legislation which her department was working on.

Ms Coppinger said the convention had been signed in 2011, but it had not yet been ratified by the Government. “This is an important landmark for women,” she added. “Gender-based violence is at epidemic levels and one in four women in Ireland has experienced domestic violence.”

Ms Fitzgerald said the Government was committed to introducing consolidated and reformed domestic violence legislation.

Greater white-toothed shrew spreads across Ireland

   

Greater white-toothed shrews could colonise abandoned farmland across Ireland by 2050.

An invasive species of shrew is spreading across the Irish landscape at a rate of more than five kilometres a year, according to new research.

Greater white-toothed shrews were first discovered in Ireland in 2007.

They have greyish brown hair and a yellowish grey lower belly. The shrew have distinctive bright white teeth, prominent ears and long, white hairs on their tail.

Prof Ian Montgomery, Queen’s University Belfast, said: “The invasive small mammals of Ireland, the greater white-toothed shrew and the bank vole should be recognised as an invasive species that has the potential to have a large negative impact on the Irish ecosystem.”

He added that “the ecological impact of these alien species is likely to be far greater than, for example, the grey squirrel.”

Expansion: Scientists fear the greater white-toothed shrew could colonise field boundaries and abandoned farmland across the entire island by 2050.

Dr Allan McDevitt, University College Dublin, said “the invading population of the greater white-toothed shrew currently covers an area of 7,600 km2 and is found in Counties Tipperary, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Offaly.”

The greater white-toothed shrew has a competitive advantage over native shrew, in eating large insect prey.

This advantage combined with a fast paced expansion could lead to the disappearance of the pygmy shrew, which has been in Ireland for thousands of years.

The Pygmy shrew is one of the world’s smallest mammals.

Limiting the impact: The invasive species has not yet crossed the River Shannon.

However, it is understood that rivers and other barriers are only a temporary hindrance for the greater white-toothed shrew.

Research suggests the only means of limiting the impact of invasive small mammals is to encourage bigger hedgerows and more deciduous woodland across Ireland.

These habitats favour indigenous species against invaders.

Prof Montgomery said: “Ireland has a pitifully small area of woodland.

“Biodiversity would be greatly enhanced by a serious effort to increase the ecological value of hedgerows and expansion of woods and forests throughout the island. “  

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Monday

Inquiry needs to examine why symptoms of bubble were ignored by Ireland

SAYS FORMER TAOISEACH BRUTON

 

ECB SAYS IT IS ON TRACK TO ASSUME OVERSIGHT OF EURO-AREA LENDERS AS ‘HEALTH CHECK’ UNDERWAY

John Bruton, Ireland’s former prime minister and current chairman of Ireland’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

The banking inquiry needs to examine why symptoms of the bubble were repeatedly ignored by politicians and regulators in the run-up to the crash, former Taoiseach John Bruton said today.

 Mr Burton, who is now the president of Dublin’s International Financial Services Centre, made the comments at a conference hosted by the Irish Banking Federation in Dublin later this morning.

The same cevent also heard from the chair of the European Central Bank’s supervisory board Daniele Nouy, and Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Cyril Roux.

Mr Bruton said the inquiry would need to confirm that the symptoms of a bubble were visible in the wider economy, why such signs were ignored, and should also outline the practical steps needed to ensure that similar symptoms were not ignored in future.

“Taking away the punch bowl, while the party was still on, was never going to be easy,” he said. “ It was never going to be easy politically, socially, or administratively. Yet that is precisely what has to be done if we are to prevent a bubble economy developing in Ireland ever again.”

Mr Bruton says he believes two obvious signs of disaster were “studiously ignored” by the political and regulators.

“One was the fact that house prices were rising far faster than either the rate of increase in incomes, or the rate of inflation in other prices, and meanwhile people were getting 100 per cent mortgages.”

Mr Bruton says once that process ended, and house prices were only rising at a rate at or below that of incomes, borrowers, who had been given 100 per cent mortgages or were otherwise financially exposed, were immediately heading towards negative equity or inability to pay.

“That made a soft landing inherently unlikely. Why did no one see that?”

The other issue Mr Bruton addressed in his speech was the huge deficit that developed on the Irish balance of payments.

“The country was spending more abroad than it was earning abroad. That spending was fuelled by imported credit. Given that devaluation was impossible, that could only be reversed by (an inherently unlikely) dramatic increase in exports, or by a cut back in imports,” he said.

“The latter could only be engineered by a recession of some kind. It was plain to see that such a recession would render many mortgages unsustainable.

“Why did no one in politics, in Government, in the Central Bank, or in the banks themselves do the basic arithmetic to work that out?”

Mr Bruton insisted that the possibility must be faced that policy makers, including in the Central Bank, did not truly understand the implications of joining the euro, and acted (or failed to act) as if the devaluation/inflation option, was still open to the country.

Chair of the European Central Bank’s supervisory board Daniele Nouy said preparations to assume oversight of euro-area lenders were going according to plan.

“We are working very intensely to meet the objectives and we are well on track with achieving them,” Ms Nouy said. “For the first time in the history of the European Union, we will have a supervisor with a truly European mandate. It will reduce regulatory arbitrage and remove national biases. As a result, we will enhance confidence in the supervision of banks and in the whole financial system.”

Irish study says alcohol is ‘embedded’ in national identity

  

The report stated alcohol abuse had created a “huge burden of health and social harm” in the Republic of Ireland

Alcohol has become “embedded” in Irish national identity, according to a major government-funded report into drinking habits in the Republic of Ireland.

 Almost 6,000 people submitted personal “alcohol diaries” for the study.

At least once a month, over one third (37%) of all respondents consumed six or more drinks in a single drinking session – classified as binge drinking.

More than half of the drinkers who took part would be classified as “harmful drinkers” by international standards.

The state-wide alcohol survey, funded by the Irish Department of Health, was carried out by the Health Research Board.

As a nation, it is clear that we need to recognise, accept and tackle the negative consequences that can arise from our use of alcohol”

It found 54% of respondents who drank would be considered as harmful drinkers using a World Health Organization measurement known as the AUDIT-C screening tool.

‘A complex relationship’

Those who took part in the survey were aged between 18 and 75, and they submitted diaries detailing their personal alcohol consumption between July and October 2013.

The researchers stated that if the harmful drinking statistic was applied to the population as a whole, it would indicate there were between 1.3m and 1.4m harmful drinkers in the Republic of Ireland last year.

Binge drinking was most common among young men, with 68% of male drinkers aged between 18 and 24 confirming they did so on a monthly basis.

Almost two-thirds (63.9%) of men and half (51.4%) of women surveyed started drinking alcohol before they turned 18, the age at which it is legal to buy alcohol in the state.

However, just over one fifth (20.6%) of all those who took part in the research did not drink at all, having consumed no alcohol for at least a year before the survey began.

The Health Research Board’s chief executive, Graham Love, said Ireland has “a complex relationship with alcohol”.

“Its use has become embedded in our national identity and it is often associated with significant cultural and religious events.”

The cost?

Mr Love said alcohol abuse had created a “huge burden of health and social harm, not just on those who drink, but on their families, friends and colleagues”.

“As a nation, it is clear that we need to recognise, accept and tackle the negative consequences that can arise from our use of alcohol,” he added.

The chief executive said that according to latest estimates, the combined cost of deal with alcohol-related crime and health problems was 2.39bn (£1.9bn).

Underground route for EirGrid west project unveiled today

ROUTE WILL RUN FROM NORTH-WEST MAYO TO THE EXISTING FLAGFORD SUBSTATION IN CO ROSCOMMON

 

The underground cable will run between Crossmolina and Ballina, down the east side of Lough Conn, north-east of Foxford and north of Charlestown, Ballaghaderreen and Frenchpark in Co Roscommon to the Flagford substation area, south-west of Carrick-on-Shannon.

The operator of the national electricity grid has unveiled its preferred underground route for its controversial Grid West project.

The project involves connecting the north Mayo area with a strong point on the transmission system near Carrick-on-Shannon.

The underground route option would run from north-west Mayo to the area around the existing Flagford substation in Co Roscommon.

It is proposed to run the underground cable mainly along local and regional roads from north-west Mayo between Crossmolina and Ballina, down the east side of Lough Conn, north-east of Foxford and north of Charlestown, Ballaghaderreen and Frenchpark in Co Roscommon to the Flagford substation area, south-west of Carrick-on-Shannon .

This proposed route has been put forward after consultation with local authorities in Mayo, Roscommon and Galway, as well as the National Roads Authority and other relevant agencies.

Speaking in Castlebar today, EirGrid chief executive Fintan Slye said they had received extensive feedback from their public consultation.

“In January we responded with a number of important initiatives, including looking at underground options for the Grid West Project. Details of this underground route option are available today on the project website ,” he said.

“Over the coming weeks we will be asking the people of the West to review the work we have done to develop this underground route option and also proposed amendments to the overhead route corridor, and to provide us with their feedback on both,” he said.

“Importantly, the work we are doing on both underground and overhead options will be brought together into a single report later this year. This report will be submitted first to the Independent Expert Panel and, subject to its approval, published for public consultation.”

The overhead pylons route has been estimated to cost €240 million but the cost of the underground alternative remains unclear.

The development comes on foot of a storm of protest against pylons from farm, tourism and environmental groups, which emerged as a major political issue last year for both Fine Gael and Labour.

This led the Government in January to appoint an independent panel to carry out a detailed examination of whether cables could be put underground.

That independent panel, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Ms Justice Catherine McGuinness, will review both overhead and underground options.

Minister for Communications and Energy Pat Rabbitte denied the proposed underground route was merely a box-ticking exercise by EirGrid.

He acknowledged that cost would be a big factor in the decision to opt for the underground route or the overhead pylons route.

Speaking on the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk today he said the Government would make the ultimate decision and that it would be a “difficult” one.

“If the [underground]route costs three times more .. then my personal view is that we can’t afford that. I would ask taxpayers to tell me why it is … that Ireland in its straitened economic circumstances is supposed to put those cables underground.

“Protesters have been saying to me they want to see a fair comparison. They are now getting a fair comparison and I hope that they would put on their other hats as taxpayers and electricity bill payers and compare the two.”

Independent MEP Marian Harkin said any cost benefit analysis needed to place as much emphasis on factors such as landscape and health as it did on the cost of materials and installation.

She said opting for the overground route would “ignore factors such as adverse effects on the tourism sector and the important health issues associated with the presence of high voltage overhead cables.”

She said she had confidence in the independent panel.

Michael Colreavy, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources welcomed the proposed underground route while the party’s TD for Cavan-Monaghan Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin called for the cabling for the new North-South Interconnecter to be routed underground in light of the news.

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association also welcomed the announcement due to the negative effects on farming, landscape and tourism and the possible health risks of overhead lines.

A number of changes to the overhead route corridor were also announced today. These changes involve undergrounding over 7km of the existing 220kV line into Flagford.

It also involves an alternative substation site or the option to underground lower voltage lines (110kV lines) into the proposed substation at Moygownagh.

Partial undergrounding will lessen the visual impact of wires in and around both substations.

EirGrid is planning to write to people affected by the underground route option as well as updating people within the emerging preferred overhead route corridor option.

Over the coming week EirGrid will be contacting stakeholders with details about how and where they can review this work, meet with the project team and provide feedback.

Obesity crisis so severe in Ireland that parents now face burying their children

  

Department of Health secretary general calls for restricted availability of sweets, fizzy drinks. 

Department of Health secretary general Ambrose McLoughlin has said the current generation of parents could be the first to “bury our children” unless the problem of obesity is tackled.

The obesity problem among young people is so bad that the present generation of parents may be the “first to bury our children”, Department of Health secretary-general Ambrose McLoughlin has said.

He told an Irish Heart Foundation conference today that the State had to move away from treatment and towards prevention, adding that tackling obesity was now a “public health priority”.

“If we don’t deal with [obesity], we will be the first generation to bury our children,” he said.

Mr McLoughlin addressed the conference on the feasibility of imposing a 20 per cent tax on all sugary drinks. One of the ways to tackle obesity, he said, was to restrict availability to so-called “top shelf” items such as sweets, chocolates and fizzy drinks which were not necessary for human health.

Mr McLoughlin said discussions were taking place with eight Government departments and an action plan on a “Healthy Ireland” would soon be submitted to the Minister for Health James Reilly.

He added there was now “significant evidence” that fizzy drinks contributed to childhood obesity. “We believe there is a need for a societal debate now to look at the issues.”

A poll carried out by the Irish Heart Foundation found that 52% of the Irish public want a 20% tax on sugary drinks such as full-fat Coca Cola and 7up, with some 87% of the population believing such drinks contribute to obesity among children and young people.

In their last pre-budget submission, the Irish Heart Foundation advocated a tax on sugary drinks which it said would raise €60 million. The proceeds could be used to subsidise buying fruit and vegetables and support a children’s health fund in schools, it said.

IHF chief executive Barry Dempsey described the introduction of such a tax as a “no brainer to protect our children”.

Guest speaker Dr Adam Briggs from the University of Oxford said a 10% tax on sugar sweetened beverages could lead to a 1.3% reduction in obesity and reduce the number of obese and overweight adults by 14,000.

Consultant endocrinologist Prof Donal O’Shea warned that the health service was close to becoming “overwhelmed” by the number of obese children presenting.

Some 20% of calories for Irish children between the age of five and 12 came from junk food, he said. He said children receive the equivalent of two weeks energy a year, or some 24,000 calories, from sugar-sweetened drinks.

Dr O’Shea said there had been an absolute explosion in the extreme end of obesity with a 1,200 per cent increase in those with a body mass index of 52 or over (18 to 25 is normal).

“We now know that obesity causes every disease and makes every disease worse. Nothing does that bar ageing,” he said.

He criticised Coca Cola’s advertising campaign of personalised bottles with names on them which is aimed at children, describing it as “personalised pedalling to our kids”.

Mysterious night-shining Clouds are back again

  

Earth’s polar skies have shined with eerie blue-white glowing clouds slowly twisting and undulating in the twilight sky every summer since the late 19th century.

These mystifying clouds are referred to as night-shining or noctilucent clouds. Such clouds form in an upper layer of the Earth’s atmosphere called the mesosphere during the summer and can be seen from the high latitudes on Earth.

If skywatchers want to possibly see noctilucent clouds, four criteria must be met: The sky must be free of tropospheric (“ordinary”) clouds. The region of the atmosphere where they form must be sunlit.  This means that the sun must be no more than 16 degrees below the horizon. The background sky must be adequately dark enough for the clouds to stand out.

This final requirement means that the sun must be at least 6 degrees below the horizon, what astronomers refer to as the end of civil twilight. Your viewing location should be at a latitude north of 45 degrees, although as you will soon see the clouds have been sighted at more southerly latitudes in recent years

A series of massive eruptions from the Krakatoa volcano in late August 1883 may have serendipitously helped to draw attention to the phenomenon of noctilucent clouds. Dust and ash injected high into the atmosphere from the Indonesian volcano caused spectacular and colorful sunsets worldwide for several years.

On the evening of June 8, 1885, T. W. Backhouse was admiring one such beautiful sunset from Kissingen, Germany, when he noticed something rather strange: as darkness deepened and the ruddy glows faded, he noticed wispy bluish-white filaments seemingly glowing in the north and northwest sky. At that time, scientists dismissed this effect as some curious manifestation caused by the volcanic ash.  But after a few more years, the ash settled and the vivid sunsets induced by Krakatoa faded.

And yet the noctilucent clouds persisted.

There is some debate suggesting that Backhouse was not the first to describe the clouds, since in a report dated from 1854, Thomas Romney Robinson, in Armagh, Ireland, communicated his personal observation of the “phosphorescent properties of ordinary clouds.”  So it might be that Robinson was making a reference to noctilucent clouds 31 years before Backhouse.

What causes them?

Noctilucent clouds can form only under very restrictive conditions. They are the highest clouds in the atmosphere, located in the mesosphere at altitudes of between 47 to 53 miles (76 to 85 kilometers). They are normally too faint to be seen, and are visible only when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth’s shadow. [Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom]

Ice crystals in clouds need two things to grow: water molecules and something for those molecules to stick to — dust, for example. Water gathering on dust to form droplets or ice crystals is a process called nucleation. It happens all the time in ordinary clouds, which generally appear at altitudes of up to about 9.5 miles (15 km) and get their dust from sources like desert wind storms.

But it’s all but impossible to push wind-blown dust all the way up into the mesosphere. So scientists speculate that the dust associated with noctilucent clouds could originate from outer space.  Every day, Earth encounters millions of meteoroids, which have been shed by comets. While some of this material rams into our atmosphere in a flash to produce the effect of a shooting star, other tiny particles remain aloft.  As for the source of the water vapor necessary to produce clouds at such extreme altitudes, upwelling winds during the summer are capable of carrying water droplets from the moist lower atmosphere toward the mesosphere.

That’s why noctilucent clouds only appear during the warm summer months. The clouds consist of tiny ice crystals about the size of particles in cigarette smoke.

Some more viewing tips?

While reports of noctilucent clouds from Europe and Russia date back to the late 19th century, the first observation from North America did not come until 1933, probably because most were not specifically looking for them, or if they did see them, they didn’t realize what they were seeing.

Observers have been able to draw some interesting conclusions from observing the clouds over the past 75 years in North America. The earliest and latest sightings are, on average, April 1 and Sept. 28, respectively. Peak activity comes around July 20, about one month after the summer solstice.

Ninety-two percent of the displays are observed during June, July and August and 82 percent are observed after the summer solstice. Before the solstice the clouds tend to be faint and cover small areas of the sky, whereas after the solstice they are usually brighter and more extensive.

In general, it would seem that the best times to look for them are during July and August.

As to what you’re looking for: gossamer, electric-blue clouds, resembling luminous tendrils, spreading across the northern to northwestern sky and slowly twisting and rippling in the twilight.

It’s a case for global warming?

Over the last few decades, noctilucent clouds seem to have been increasing in frequency, brightness and extent. A century ago, for instance, the clouds were confined to latitudes above 50-degrees north. Observers would have to go to places like the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and Russia to see them. But in recent years, they’ve been glimpsed as far south as Colorado, Utah and Virginia.

It is theorized that this increase is connected to climate change.

“Extreme cold is required to form ice in a dry environment like the mesosphere,” said Gary Thomas, a professor at the University of Colorado.

Surprisingly, global warming helps. While greenhouse gases warm Earth’s surface, they actually lower temperatures in the high levels of our atmosphere.

Studies from above?

Satellites have helped scientists study these clouds. In September 2009, the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the United States Department of Defense Space Test Program (STP) conducted the Charged Aerosol Release Experiment (CARE) using exhaust particles from a Black Brant XII suborbital sounding rocket launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility to create an artificial noctilucent cloud. The rocket’s exhaust plume was widely observed and reported from New Jersey to Massachusetts.

Other evidence indicates that at least some noctilucent clouds resulted from freezing water exhaust from NASA’s retired space shuttle fleet. In fact, the clouds were observed and photographed by astronauts from orbiting spacecraft.